Improvement in incubators



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. W. AXFORD.

:.NCUBATOR, y l Patented 0ct. 24,.1876` jig/- l n i,

*ILPETERSl FMCTD-LITHOGRAH'IER. WASHINGTON. 11C. f

UNITED *STATES TENT v"Cl-FFIcn HARRISv w. ,Axronuou OMAHA,l NEBRASKA.

"iMPRovEMENT `|niculiroRs.'y

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. Irs-3,526, dated Cctober 24, 1876; application filed March 6, 1876.

To all whom it 'may concern Be it knownl that I, HARRIS W. AXFoRD, of Omaha,in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented a new and Improved Incubator, of which the following is a specification:

The invention relates to heating, ventilating, air-moistening, and electric heat-regulating apparatus for an incubator, the construction and arrangementof parts being as hereinafter described.

Figure l is a horizontal section of my improved incubator, taken in line :v x of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation taken on the line y y of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the electric machine .for working the valves to regulate the heat and ventilation; and Fig. 4 is partly a side elevation and partly a section of a lnercury-gage for making and break ing the circuit of the electrical apparatus.

A is the pan for containing the eggs to be hatched, said pan being in an oven, B, surrounded by a dead-air space, C, and an insulating box or case, filled with powdered charcoal, D, or other non-conducting material. E is the pipe for admitting the heated and moistened air from the chamber F surrounding the heater G. This pipe contains a valve or damper, H, to be opened and closed by the lever l, which is'jworked by the armature-lever J of a magnet, K, to be Worked by the circuit L L of a battery, M, the circuit to be closed by a mercury-gage, N, for closing the valve to shut Off the heat when too high, and broken by said gage for allowing the valve to be opened by the spring O ofthe armature-lever. The mercury-gage is toenter in the center of the incubating-oven, where it is subject to the heat, and one part of the wire L' is kept in the mercury, while the other part connects with the adjusting-screw P, which is made to dip into the gage, more or less, according to the degree of heat wanted, so that when the mercury rises to the point Q of the screw, and makes connection, the armature-lever will be attracted, and thus the valve will be closed until, by the cooling of the oven, the mercury falls away from the point where the circuit will be broken, and the valve will be opened by the spring.

The heat is furnished by a lamp, It, supplied Afrom a tank, S, and having. a oat,-T, and asuitable valve for automatically regnlating the supply of oil, and thus maintaining of the incubators, for keeping the young chickt ens warm, and from this chamber it passes oft' through the smoke-pipe Z. The fresh air for heating the oven passes up around the chimney U inthe passage a, and also around the water-heater b, in which steam is to be made for moistening the air, to give it about the natural moisture of the external atmosphere heated by the mother hen in the natural way. The boiler b is supplied from a tank, d, in which there is a iioat, e, and a regulatingvalve to regulate the supply.

Y The heater and the air-heating chamber are surrounded by a jacket of non-conducting material to economize the heat and to heat the air uniformly.

A door, g, opens through one side of the oven to admit the pan A, and then there is an escape-passage, h', to a` ilueyi, in the lower part of which is a lamp, j, to accelerate the escape of the air after doing its work, the lamp being to create a draft in the ilue. The wires L L pass out through a window, k, to the battery. A is a reservoir by the side of the heater, to be warmed before owing into the regulator-tank d throughA a pipe, B.

I do not claim, broadly, a thermo-electric apparatus for regulating the admission of hot air to an apartment, being well aware such has been previously invented; nor do I claim anything shown or described in the patent of W. G. Baken-No. 152,031.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to Vsecure by Letters Patent- 1. In an incubator the cage or chamber y, the hot-air chamber w, and the passage W, and the heatingchamber with which the same communicates, al1 combined and arranged as shown and described, for the purpose specified.

2. The mercury-gage, provided with an adjustable connectin ,Q1-poi nt, in combination'with the electric magnet K, armature J,fand the,

damper H, arranged in the mouth of the tube E, which projects into the oven A, as shown and described, whereby the temperature of the oven may be regulated and maintained at` the heating apparatus connected therewith,r

allv arranged as shown and described, for the purpose specified.

4. The lamp K, chimney U, air-passage a,

Hwater-boiler b, heater G V, and an insulated air-chamber F, combined substantially as shown and described. g

HARRIS W. AXFORD.

Witnesses:

LUGIEN F. HALE, J. J POINTS. 

